Chair Gretchen Carlson announced in June plans to drop the swimsuit portion of the program. "We are no longer a pageant; we are a competition. We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance," Carlson told Amy Robach on "Good Morning America" at the time.

Sunday, we also saw the debut of the red carpet competition, which accounted for 20 percent of the contestants' overall score. After walking a red carpet in the evening wear of their choice, the participants shared a short message with viewers, similar to how a celebrity might respond to a question on the carpet.

The segment was panned on Twitter.

"Red Carpet competition??? ... I cannot get on board with this Miss America 2.0 thing," a puzzled user tweeted.

Red Carpet competition??? ... I cannot get on board with this Miss America 2.0 thing. Happy for AL, but geeze. #standwithcara

Some people also wanted more of reigning Miss America Cara Mund, who claimed the organization's leadership "silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis." Carlson denied Mund's claims.

"So we're just going to ignore the fact no one has mentioned or seen the current #MissAmerica" a person posted.

So we're just going to ignore the fact no one has mentioned or seen the current #MissAmerica

"I don’t know why all of the upset about Miss America 2.0 was necessary," one person tweeted in its defense. "Tonight’s shows made me feel proud to be a woman and confident to one day watch it with my future daughter."

I don’t know why all of the upset about Miss America 2.0 was necessary. Tonight’s shows made me feel proud to be a woman and confident to one day watch it with my future daughter. #MissAmerica2019

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It's a brand new world: Miss America without the swimsuit competition. And still, the world kept spinning. The competition final was held Sunday night, and a new winner was crowned Miss America 2019: Nia Imani Franklin, Miss New York THOMAS P. COSTELLO, Asbury Park Press via USA TODAY NETWORK